savoring the beauty in the everyday

my first (wearable) sweater

Many of you know I’m a knitter – and that I’ve become more and more addicted to knitting over the last few years. Since my friend Joy taught me to knit in college, I’ve knitted dozens of scarves and hats, a few cowls/neckwarmers, a few pairs of fingerless gloves, some baby items and some novelty items such as Jo’s Welsh tea cozy and a handbag for myself. But until this year, I had never attempted a sweater.

I’m an avid user of Ravelry, so I joined their “Ravelympics” challenge during the 2010 Winter Olympics, knitting a whole sweater (an open-front cardigan) out of soft, bulky yarn in just under a week. It came out looking like a sweater, and fit OK, but honestly, it’s a bit small and hangs a bit funny, and I haven’t worn it much. So at the end of March, I started another sweater.

After THREE MONTHS of knitting, measuring, counting stitches, working shaping along with a lace motif (which translates to lots of counting, pulling your hair out, ripping back and counting again), then LOTS of seaming and weaving in ends and I don’t know what all, I have a new cardigan. And, I might add, it fits perfectly.

Here I am wearing it – and below is the sweater itself, complete with handmade pewter buttons from Roosterick.

This was such a satisfying project to finish – so much fun to see it all come together. What projects are you working on this summer?

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10 Responses

holy cow, are you serious? You made this? this is beautiful Katie- could I order one please? 🙂
I am working hard this summer on completing a book- but keep running into blocks- getting there though, sounds like your experience with knitting this sweater, backing up, restarting, erasing, pulling hair out etc. It has felt at times like birthing a baby-
so what is up next for those talented knitting fingers of yours?

That is GORGEOUS, Katie! What beautiful little details you put in it. I love the green you chose too! I want you to know that I will still be relying on your knitting advice even as far away as it is from Sayles to Boston. You are such a beautifully gifted knitter. Currently, I am working on a gorgeous deeply saturated cranberry colored winter scarf. I’ve attempted some other favorite winter colors of mine, such as navy and winter white. I have a beautiful Homespun blended yarn called Harvest that I cannot wait to use to make a scarf to enjoy during the coming fall and winter months.